How NFL Green is working to make a difference by planting trees

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Over the past 11 years, NFL Green has planted more than 280,000 trees near the sites of big games to help mitigate the effects of climate change and create a lasting legacy.

Transcript

00:00 Joining us now are Susan and Jack Rowe of NFL Green.

00:04 We are so excited you guys are here.

00:06 Thanks for joining us this morning.

00:08 Oh, good morning.

00:09 Thanks for having us.

00:09 Yeah, it's great to be here.

00:10 Absolutely.

00:11 Let's dig in, my friends.

00:12 All right, what's the mission of the NFL Green

00:14 for folks who are just getting acquainted with you guys

00:16 and maybe some projects that are underway,

00:18 some good examples?

00:19 Well, we'll skip right to the greening portion of it

00:23 because like most events these days,

00:25 we do a lot around operations, recycling,

00:27 and recovering food and everything.

00:28 But I think what really distinguishes

00:31 what the NFL does and has done

00:33 is the impact that we leave,

00:35 the permanent impact that we leave on the community

00:37 while we're there.

00:38 So we really work to leave a green legacy.

00:40 So we started way back in October.

00:43 We did 14 community greening projects,

00:44 starting by planting 58 trees for Super Bowl 58

00:47 in Henderson, wrapped up in Las Vegas,

00:49 planting another 58 trees.

00:51 This was at Las Vegas Indian Center.

00:53 We did a great habitat restoration project there,

00:56 also did two acres of habitat restoration

00:58 north of Las Vegas.

01:00 Planted lots and lots of trees, plants.

01:02 I think overall we did about 3,400 plants,

01:04 trees, flower bulbs, really had a nice impact there.

01:07 And we work with one of our major sponsors

01:09 and I'm sorry to do this,

01:11 but I have to plug Verizon because they have been,

01:13 like we've been married at the hips

01:15 of those guys for so long.

01:17 But in partnership with them over the last 11 years,

01:20 just the last 11 years,

01:22 we've planted about 280,000 trees all across America

01:26 at NFL event cities and also done over 150 projects

01:30 similar to the video that you just saw a minute ago there.

01:33 All right, we have about 30 seconds.

01:35 Unfortunately, Las Vegas is hosting the big game

01:37 for the first time.

01:38 How did you determine where the areas of need

01:41 in and around the Las Vegas community is?

01:45 Good question.

01:46 We reach out to the community to see what their need is.

01:48 The number one request in Las Vegas was for trees.

01:50 It's getting really hot there really quickly.

01:52 They need to cool things down.

01:53 So they're looking for that shade and cooling

01:55 that trees can provide.

01:56 So we did a lot of tree planting.

01:57 You know, and climate change is not gonna be solved

01:59 by planting trees,

02:00 but it is one strategy that can help address climate change.

02:04 You know, we've got to reduce carbon emissions,

02:05 but we also have to sequester existing carbon and trees,

02:09 planting trees, you know,

02:10 hundreds of thousands of them is a good way,

02:13 good strategy for that mitigation piece.

02:15 There's a lot more that needs to be done,

02:17 but you know, we're really trying to create a legacy

02:20 and do what we can in each city.

02:22 What a fantastic effort.

02:23 I love hearing the numbers too.

02:24 That is so incredible.

02:25 Susan and Jack Grove at FL Green.

02:28 We really appreciate the work you guys do

02:30 and for joining us this morning.

02:31 Thanks for being here.

02:33 Thanks for having us.

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